Sheet-feeding mechanism



April 12, 1927. I

s. H. PLUM-2D" ET AL ShEET FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 22, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 624,069 Aprll 12 1927' s, PLUM, 20., ET AL SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 22 1925 2 Sheets-Shet 2 Patented Apr. 12, 192.7.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN HAINES PLUM, 2B, OF MADISON, AND AMOS AGKLEY, OF CAMDEN, NEW JER- SEY, ASSIGNOES TO AMERICAN TYPEFOUNDERS COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NET? JERSEY.

SHEET-FEEDING MECHANISM.

Application filed September This invention relates to improvements in automatic sheetfeeding mechanism for printing presses and has particular reference to improvements in an automatic feeder of the type disclosed in the U. S. Patent No. 1,584,468 dated May 11, 1926.

This invention refers particularly to improvements in sheet guiding means used in connection with the said feeder and also to improvements for facilitating access to the platen during the operation of the press.

The said patent discloses an automatic feeder in which the paper is pneumatically separated and then conveyed by means of an oscillating feeder frame or separator carriage to a guide rack or transfer table from which the paper slides onto the platen. The guide rack is raised and lowered to permit the platen to move from open to closed position and heretofore the raising and lowering of the guide rack was accomplished by certain instrumentalities secured to the press itself. This is objectionable because it requires a great deal of work in attaching the feeder to the press, and it is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a raising and lowering mechanism for the guide rack, which mechanism directlya part of and operated by the feeder mechanism itself.

It has also been found that it is necessary to arrange the feeder mechanism in such a manner that it may be laid back in over the feeder and away from the platen so that access may be had thereto during the work. and this invention provides the necessary mechanism for thus manually moving the feeder frame and guide rack out of the way of the platen. v

It has also been found that when a sheet slides from the guide rack and onto the platen, the front edge of the sheet may curl or buckle and slide out over the usual re istering stops on the platen and otherwise not reach the proper printing position thereon. This invention provides suitable means which are carried by paper uiding the guule rack and operated to insure that the sheet is fed directly into printing position.

The invention will be more fully understood from the following specification read 22, 1925. Serial No. 57,857

in connection with the drawings in which-- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side View of so much of the feeder referred to in the said application as is necessary for an understanding of this invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged side view of the guide rack and the paper guiding means with the platen shown in sheet receiving position, parts being omitted and parts broken away.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but shows the parts in their upper position when the platen is in printing position, this figure also shows in dotted line the position of the guide rack when it is laid back to permit access to the platen.

Figure 4 is a view of the parts shown in Figure 3 looking in direction of arrow 4.

Figure 5 is a view of the opposite or right hand side of the feeder mechanism showing the means whereby the guide rack is raised and lowered.

Figure 6 is a detail view of parts shown in Figure 5 illustrating the guide rack in its lower position.

Figure 7 is a detail view of the mechanism which permits the feeder frame and guide rack to be laid back as shown in Figure 3.

Figures 8 and 9 are detail views of certain parts shown in the preceding figures.

In the following description the parts which are identical with similar parts in the said patent referred to will be numbered correspondingly for purposes of ready reference thereto. The press to which the automatic feeder is attached is of the well known Chandler 8:. Price type of press, which is also well known in the art, so that only a brief reference thereto is necessary.

Referring to Figure 1 the reference numeral 6 denotes the platen of the press shown in sheet receiving position. In front of the platen there is secured to the press frame suitable brackets 20 which support the inclined feed table 18 upon which the paper 15 is placed. The table is provided with suitable brackets 68 in which is mounted the oscillating paper separating means identified by the swinging arms 75 and 76 which correspond with the same accompanying parts in the application above referred to. The said arms support in a suitable manner the suction nozzles 53.

The feeder frame 76 is moved from a position in over the paper pile as in Figure 8 and Figure 5, to the position shown in Figure 1 where the suction ceases to function and the separated sheetof paper 65 is deposited on the guide rack (56 and from thence passes onto the platen ('3 against the usual stops 16.

The guide rack comprises the said side frames 66 which are pivoted on a shaft 67 in the said brackets (38. The outer lower ends of the side frames are joined by a lower roll off shaft 1'? and suitable paper side guides 19 may also be provided. The detailed construction of the parts above described and their operation and function is fully set forth in the patent referred to. to which reference is hereby made for a full understanding thereof. In this instance it is only necessary to refer to the part shown in Figure 5 in which 21 is'a link pivoted to the feeder frame at 22. The other end. of the link is operatively connected to a stud 23 carried by an arm secured to a shaft 91 in a bearing 92. To the said shaft is further secured another arm 93 having a pin 94. A link 101 is detachably connected to said pin 94 and the other end of the link is connected to a bell crank lever which is pivoted at 96 to a suitable part of the feeder mechanism. not shown. The instrumentalities described immediately above for swinging the feeder frame are identical with the same parts as disclosed in the said patent with the exception of the link 21.

The guide rack ('36 is raised and lowered by means of a cam which is pivoted on the shaft or and adjustably clamped to the guide rack by a bolt 26 and slot 27. he bracket 68 in Figure 5 has an extension 28 in which is pivoted at 29 a cam raising;- lever 30 which carries a cam roll 31. A link 32 is connected at. the upper end of the cam lever 30 and the other end of the link is pivoted on the aforesaid stud 23.

As the feeder frame 75 is operated from the position shown in Figure 5 to the position shown in Figure 6 the cam lever 30 is correspondingly operated so that the. cam roll 31 taking" against the cam 25 raises and lowers the guide rack COI'I'GSIJOlKllDglF. In the upper position of the guide rack shown in Figure 5, the rack rests on the roll 31 through the instrunientalities of the cam As now the cam roll 31 moves from the right to the left into the position shown in l' igure 6, the guide rack will be correspondiiurly lowered as soon as the cam roll passes the point 33 of the cam. When the cam roll is moved from the left to the right it will be seen that it first lifts the cam and the guide rack until the roller passes below and to the right of the cam point 33 and further movement of the cam roller will not effect the movement of the guide rack which will then have reached its uppermost position. The throw of the guide rack is adju ted by means of the bolt and slot 26, 2? aforesaid.

It will he noted that this guide rack raising and lowering mechanism carried directly on the feed table 18 and thus is incorporated in the feeder mechanism and that it requires no special separate attachment to the press for this purpmsc. In the art of automatic feeders it is of the greatest importance that the press mechanism be disturbed as little as possible by adjustments requiring boring or drilling or other attaching); means. The mechanisms thus described for raising and lowering the guide rack avoids such separate attaching means and is advantageously built into the feeder mechanism itself.

Referring now more particularly to Fig ures 2, 3 and 4 the paper guiding means referred to above comprises a plurality of guiding fingers which are suitably clamped to a square shaft 36 and operated to project in over the platen as seen in Figure 1 to guide the sheet into proper position. lVhen the platen moves down into printing" position the guiding; fingers must be with drawn as in Figure 3 to permit the platen to swing down. To this end the square shaft 36 is at each end mounted in an arm 3'7, see also Figure 6. and the arms 37 are pivoted at 38, 38 in the guide rack frames 66. The op eratin q' means for swinging the arms 3? and the guiding fingers are located on one side of the feeder mechanism as shown in Figures 2, 3 and at. To the shaft 36 is clamped a short link 39 which is pivoted at 40 to an arm 4-1 pivoted on a pin 4E2 fixed in the guide rack frame 66. A link at?) is pivoted to the arm 37 at etS and the other end of the link 43 is pivoted at 41-9 to a sliding cam 50.

The cam has a slot 51 which slides on the aforesaid fixed pin 4C2. The cam further carries an adjustable screw 5:5 adapted to abut the abutment 53 on the guide rack (56. A spring 5% tends to pull the cam .50 to the left in the drawings or rcarwardly on the press. The cam 50 is further cut out as at to slide over the shaft 67. The cam fur ther carries a cam roll 56 which is adapted to run against a depending lug 57 on the feed table 18.

hen the platen is in sheet receiving position as in Figures 1 and 2, and the guide rack 66 lowered by the means above described it will be seen that the cam 50 is moved downward. the slot 51 sliding on the pin 42, until the end of the screw touches the abutment 53 and through the link 4:23 the guide fingers 35 are projected forwardly in over the platen as more particularly shown in Figure 1 to guide the sheet into position. When the guide rack is raised as ill lid

in Figure 3, the cam is likewise swung around the shaft 67 and is moved backwards until the cam roll 56 strikes the lug 57. The result of the upward movement of the guide rack and cam together with stoppage thereof by the cam roll 56 causes the cam to move on the pin 12 in such a manner that the guide fingers 35 are withdrawn and the part-s assume the position shown in Figure 3.

The movement of the guiding fingers in over the platen. is adjusted in accordance with the length of the sheet by means of a screw As shown in the drawings this movement is relatively large, but may be shortened materially by screwing the screw 52 further in. ltwill be seen that the sheet guiding means operate automatically and in proper synchronism with the movement of the feeder. The corresponding position of the feeder frame is indicated in both Figures 2 and 3, and in Figure at there is shown in dotted line a sheet resting on the guide rack and about to pass therefrom and onto the platen.

During the operation of the press it is frequently necessary to have access to the platen for purposes of adjustment or for other reasons. This, of course, requires the platen to be in sheet receiving position as shown in Figure 1, when nearly all the movable parts of the feeder are projected in over the platen. In order, therefore, to gain access to the platen it is necessary to move the feeder frame and guide rack upwardly out of the way and into the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3. It will, therefore, be obvious that in order to accomplish this result the link 21, see Figure 5, must be disconnected from the stud 23 or the feeder frames 'T5-76 cannot be laid back. The link 21 is, therefore, made detaehable in the following manner, see Figures S and 9. The stud'23 is screwed into the arm 90 and carries to one side the link 32 which operates the cam lifting lever 30. To the other side the stud 22) carries loosely mounted thereon a bushing '70. The bush ing has a pin 71 which plays in a cut out 72 in the head of the arm 90, and the bushing further has a straight lipped portion 73. The end of the link 21 is formed with a hook 7+1 which tits over the said bushing 70. As the stud 23 is moved in an are on the link 90, see Figures 5 and 7, the pin 71 moves in the cut out '72 to maintain the bushing in substantially the same position on the stud and in turn the bushing therefore prevents the hook T1 of the link 21 from jumping upwards or otherwise disconnecting itself from the stud.

Suitably supported under the feed table is a lifter shaft 75. On the left side of the press the said shaft carries a handle 76, see Figure 3, because the operator usually stands on that side. On the other end, Figures 5 and 7, the shaft carries a lever 77 provided ith a pin 78 which moves in a slot 70 provided in lifting cam 80 pivoted at 91 and which carries a roll 97 adapted to be raised upwardly against the aforesaid link 21. A spring 98 pulls downward on a rod in the cam lever 80 to normally pull the latter downwardly and away from the link 21. When it is desired to lay back the feeder frame 75-T6 the operator turns down the handle '76 thus rotating the shaft 75 in an anticlockwise direction in Figures 5 and 7 and through the instrumentalities of the lever 77 and pin 78, the lifter cam 80 is raised until the roll 97 strikes the link 21 and lifts the latter upward until the hook 21 is clear off the bushing 70, the heel 102 of the hook being moved upwards against the straight part 73 of the bushing as will be understood. The operator then moves the feeder frame in over the feed table and the link 21 automatically moves in the same direction to the left in Figure 7 a d away from the stud 23, it being remembered that when the feeder frame is to be laid back the said stud will be in the ition shown in Figure 7, hence the ncces y for disconnecting the link 21. The link a ain automatically connected to the stud 23 by rotating the lifter shaft 75 in the opposite direction. to lower the lifter cam 80, this will cause the link 21 to fall down on top of the bushing 70, and when now the feeder frame is moved to the right in Figure 7 the hook T-L will automatically slide in over the bushing 70 and drop into connected position with the stud 23.

'teferring now to Figures 2 and 3. the reference nun'ieral 103 denotes a hook lever which is pivoted on the sliding cam 50 at 104C. The lever has a hook 105 and a slot 1X3 which fits over a pin 10? on the cam 50. The normal position of the hook lever is as shown in Figures 2 and 3 where it rests on the shaft 67 and. of course, moves with the sliding cam 50. lVhen the guide rack is moved upward or laid back as in dotted lines in Figure 3, the pivot 10% of the hook lever is moved forward, to the right in Figure 3, due to the changed position f the cam his tl e cam is swung upward the pin 107 moves in the lever slot 106 so that the position of the lever hook 103 is not changed except that as the pivot 10a is moved to the right. and lowered :hi lever hook automatically falls down so that its hook 105 engages behind the shaft 67 and thus serves to prevent the cam 50 from moving to the left in Figure 3, and this in turn maintains the guide rack and the parts thereon in the raised laid back position. ihe limit of this position is fixed by the position of the cam 50 in that the cam roll now lies upwardly against an auxillilo iary cam which is suitably secured to the feed tdble l8. lVhen the guide rack is to be lowered into normal operating position, the operator lifts the hook lever 103 by taking hold of its handle 108, after which the guide rack may be lowered and the cam automatically slides into its normal position as shown.

The foregoing is thought to fully explain this invention and the various features thereof. It will be seen that the cam mechanism for raising and lowering the guide rack comprises but few members and is directly operated from the feeder frame operating members. In this connection it should be explained thatthe bell crank lever 100, shown in Figure 5, is suitably connected and actuated from the press in the manner diselosed'in the patent referred to. 7

It will also be noted that the sliding cam .u'iechanisn'i for operating the paper guide fingers 35 occupies but little space on the left hand side of the feeder mechanism. It will be understood. of course, that two or more of the guide finge's will be used across the feeder depending upon the size. of the sheet to be printed.

\Vhile we have shown our invention in its preferred form, nevertheless it will be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details illustrated or described otherwise than as required by the legitimate and intended scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A feeding device for a press having a platen movable from a sheet receiving to animpression position comprising a paper feed table, a paper guide rack for guiding the paper in its passage to the platen and adjustable means on said paper feed table for lowering the said guide rack towards the platen when the latter is in sheet receiving: position, and for raising said guide rack away from the platen when the latter moves into impression position.

2. A feeding device for a press having a platen movable from a sheet receiving to an impression position comprising a paper feed table. a paper guide rack for guiding the paper in its passage to the platen, a cam adjustably claniped to said paper guide rack and means on said paper feed table for operating said cam to raise and lower the said guide rack as the platen moves from sheet receiving to impression position.

3. A feeding device for a press having a platen movable from a sheet receiving to impression position comprising a paper guide rack, means for lowering and raising the same towards and away from the platen as the latter moves from the sheet receiving to impression position, paper guiding fingers supported on said guide rack and means for moving said guiding fingers away from the guide rack and into operative position in over the platen when the latter is in sheet receiving position. Y

*1. A feeding device for a press having a platen movable from a sheet receiving to impression position comprising a paper guide rack, means for lowering and raising the same towards and away from the platen as the latter moves from sheet receiving to impression position, paper guiding lingers supported on said guide rack and means for moving said guiding lingers away from the guide rack and into operative position in over the platen when the latter is in sheet receiving position, and for moving said fingers away from the platen and towards the said guide rack as the platen moves into impr ion position.

5. The combination with a platen, a paper guide rack, means for lowering and raising the same with respect to the said platen, paper guiding fingers on said guide rack and means automatically operable when said guide rack is lowered for moving the said paper guiding fingers into operative position with respect to the said platen.

(3. The combination with a platen, a paper guide rack, means for lowering and raising the same with respect to the said platen, paper guiding fingers on said guide rack and means auton'iatically operable when said guide rack lowered for moving the said paper guiding fingers into operative position with respect to the said platen, and automatically operable when said guide rack is raised for withdrawing the said paper uiding fingers from the platen.

7. The combination with a platen, a paper guide rack. means for operating the latter towards and away from the platen, paper guiding fingers pivoted on said guide rack, a cam for operating said fingers and means for actuating said cam to move the guiding fingers towards and away from the platen as the said guide rack is operated as aforesaid.

8. The combination with a platen, a paper guide rack. means for operating the latter towards and away from the platen, paper guiding fingers pivoted on said guide rack, a cam for operating said fingers and means for actuating said cam to move the guiding lingers towards and away from the platen as the said guide rack is operated as aforesaid, and nmchanism for regulating the length of movement of the said guiding fingers.

9. In a device of the character described a paper feed table, a. paper separating mechanism. normally movable from a position in over said table to a position away therefrom, operating means for said separating mechanism and means for rendering said operating means inactive to per it said separating mechanism to be moved manually into a position of rest in over said paper feed table.

10. In a device of the character described a paper feed table, a paper separating mechanism normally movable from a position in over said table to a position a-Way therefrom, o erating means for said separating mechanism, a link in said operating means connected to said separating mecha nisin and means for disconnecting said link from the said operating means to permit the said separating mechanism to be moved manually into a position of rest on said feed table.

11. In a device of the character described a paper feed table, a paper separating mechanism normallv movable from a position in over said table to a position away therefrom, operating means for said separating mechanism, a link in said operating means connected to said separating mechanism and means for disconnecting said link from the said operating means to permit the said separating mechanism to be moved manually into a position of rest on said feed table, and means on said link and ope "ating mechanism for automatically reconnecting the same when said separating mechanism is moved away from the said position of rest as aforesaid.

12. In a device of the character described a paper feed table, a paper separating mechanism normally movable from a position in over said table to a position away therefrom, a link for operating said mechanism, actuating means for said link, a cam, a shaft for lifting said cam to disconnect the said link from its actuating means to permit said separating mechanism to, be moved manually into a position of rest on said feed table irrespective of the preceding position of said separating mechanism, means for automatically reconnecting said link and its actuating means when said separating mechanism is moved in the reverse direction and means for operating said shaft to lower the said cam to permit the automatic reconnection as aforesaid.

13. In a device of the character described, a paper guide rack, a support therefor, means for operating said guide rack into predetermined positions with respect to said support, said guide rack being adapted to be moved manually into a position of rest diITerent from its operating positions aforesaid and means on said guide rack for automatically locking it in its said position of rest when manually moved as aforesaid.

1%. In a device of the character described, a paper guide rack, a support therefor, means for operating said guide rack into predetermined positions with respect to said support, said guide rack being adapted to be moved manually into a position of rest different from its operating positions aforesaid and means on said guide rack for automatically locking it in its said position of rest when manually moved as aforesaid, said automatic locking means being adapted to be manually unlocked to release the paper guide rack from its position of rest.

AMOS ACKLEY. S. HAINES PLUM, 2D. 

